Director and scriptwriter - Alexander Mindadze
Exceptionally private, full of emotional experiences story of an engineer Hans F. who arrived with a business trip to USSR on the eve of World War II (autumn of 1940 Р spring of 1941). The plot is based on the real life events of prewar period, on the memories of its direct participants. As a matter of fact the film represents little known blank spot of the European history when soon after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact had been signed a short period of friendship, close collaboration and exchange of specialists started between USSR and Germany - before these two countries confronted each other in the mortal combat.
Russia, Germany, UK, 124 min.
Production - Passenger film studio (Russia), AI Films (UK), ma.ja.de. (Germany), supported by the Russian Cinema Fund, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
Scriptwriter and director - Alexander Mindadze
DOP - Oleg Mutu
Production designer - Kirill Shuvalov
Editor - Dasha Danilova
Producers - Alexander Mindadze, Liza Antonova, Valery Kharkov, Andrei Annenskiy (RUS), Len Blavatnik (UK), Heino Deckert (Germany)
Cast - Jacob Diehl, Birgit Minichmayr, Mark Waschke, Roza Khairulina, Marc Hosemann, Andryus Daryala, Anna Skidanova, Svetlana Kosolapova
Awards
2016 The Youth Choice award from the IFF Mirror
2016 The Nika Award from the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts for best film
2016 The Nika Award from the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts for best screenplay
2016 The White Elephant Award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics for best film
2016 The White Elephant Award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics for best screenplay
2016 The White Elephant Award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics for best director
2016 The White Elephant Award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics for best director of photography (Oleg Mutu)
2016 The White Elephant Award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics for best male role (Jacob Diehl)
2016 The Golden Eagle Award from the National Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Russia for best screenplay
2015 Best narrative feature film, Chicago
2015 Best male role, Chicago (Jacob Diehl)
2015 Best director of photography, Chicago (Oleg Mutu)
Festivals
2015 Moscow IFF (Russia)
2015 Festival of Russian Cinema (Vyborg, Russia)
2015 Yakutsk IFF (Russia)
2015 Pacific Meridian IFF (Russia)
2015 Batumi IFF (Georgia)
2015 Hamburg IFF (Germany)
2015 Sao Paulo IFF (Brazil)
2015 Festival of Russian Cinema in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
2015 Stalker FF (Russia)
2016 Rotterdam IFF (Netherlands)
2016 Festival of Russian Cinema in Helsinki (Finland)
2016 Festival of art house Russian films in Chelyabinsk (Russia)
2016 Vilnius IFF (Lithuania)
2016 Movement festival of debut films (Russia)
2016 Mirror IFF (Russia) 2016 Golden Apricot IFF (Armenia)
2016 On The Edge IFF, Sakhalin (Russia)
2016 Riga IFF (Latvia)